Carbonyls, Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives | AQA A-Level Chemistry (7405)

Carbonyls, Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives

165 questions
12 subtopics
Organic chemistry, examined on Paper 2
Paper 2 and Paper 3

Carbonyls, carboxylic acids and derivatives is examined on Papers 2 and 3.

It covers the reactions of aldehydes and ketones, the acidity of carboxylic acids, esters and the fats and oils built from them, and the acyl chlorides and anhydrides used to make them.

Sample questions from Carbonyls, Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Oxidation of Aldehydes and Distinguishing Tests

What is the positive result when Fehling's solution reacts with an aldehyde?

Show the answer
A brick-red precipitate forms
Reduction of Carbonyls with NaBH4

If propanal is reduced with NaBH₄, what is the organic product?

Show the answer
Propan-1-ol
Hazards of KCN and Formation of Enantiomers

Why does the reaction of an aldehyde with KCN followed by dilute acid produce a mixture of enantiomers?

Show the answer
The planar carbonyl group can be attacked equally from either side by the cyanide nucleophile, producing both enantiomers in equal amounts.
Structure and Acidity of Carboxylic Acids

How does the acidity of carboxylic acids compare to that of alcohols?

Show the answer
Carboxylic acids are more acidic than alcohols
Vegetable Oils, Fats and the Hydrolysis of Esters

What would happen to the structure of a vegetable oil if glycerol were replaced with a simple alcohol like ethanol?

Show the answer
It would form a simple ester with only one ester linkage rather than a triglyceride with three ester linkages
Soap and Biodiesel Production from Fats

What role does the catalyst play in biodiesel production?

Show the answer
It speeds up the reaction between vegetable oils and methanol
Nucleophilic Addition-Elimination Reactions of Acyl Chlorides

What is the organic product when an acyl chloride reacts with a primary amine?

Show the answer
A substituted amide (N-substituted amide)
Acid Anhydrides and the Industrial Synthesis of Aspirin

Which reagent is preferred industrially for aspirin synthesis: ethanoic anhydride or ethanoyl chloride?

Show the answer
Ethanoic anhydride

The 12 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Oxidation of Aldehydes and Distinguishing Tests	Why aldehydes oxidise and ketones do not, and the tests that show it.	10
Reduction of Carbonyls with NaBH4	Reduction to primary and secondary alcohols, and the nucleophilic addition mechanism.	14
Nucleophilic Addition with KCN and Hydroxynitrile Formation	The mechanism with the cyanide ion, and why it extends the carbon chain.	12
Hazards of KCN and Formation of Enantiomers	The hazards of using KCN, and why attack on a planar carbonyl gives a racemic mixture.	10
Structure and Acidity of Carboxylic Acids	The carboxyl group, why these acids are weak, and their reactions with metals, carbonates and bases.	12
Esterification and the Uses of Esters	Making an ester from a carboxylic acid and an alcohol, the acid catalyst, and what esters are used for.	20
Vegetable Oils, Fats and the Hydrolysis of Esters	Oils and fats as esters of glycerol, and hydrolysing an ester under acidic and alkaline conditions.	18
Soap and Biodiesel Production from Fats	Saponification to soap and glycerol, and transesterification with methanol to biodiesel.	14
Structure of Acid Anhydrides, Acyl Chlorides and Amides	The functional group in each, how they are named, and how they are drawn.	10
Nucleophilic Addition-Elimination Reactions of Acyl Chlorides	The mechanism, and the products with water, alcohols, ammonia and amines.	15
Acid Anhydrides and the Industrial Synthesis of Aspirin	Nucleophilic addition-elimination at an acid anhydride, and why ethanoic anhydride is preferred for making aspirin.	16
Purifying organic solids and liquids	Required practical 10: recrystallising an impure organic solid, testing its purity by melting point, and purifying an organic liquid with a separating funnel, a drying agent and redistillation.	14

Carbonyls, Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives is 165 of the 2,442 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.